My Wings
by veronica.toon.7
Summary: AU: Xion is a lonely girl locked in an attic by her abusive and sadistic uncle. She thinks her life is worthless and she is nothing till one day an angel named Roxas crashes into her window and the two start to find comfort in one another. But will it be enough to set Xion free from her bondage? Dedicated to RequiemofKingdomHearts and Cloudhead. Warning: mentions of child abuse.
1. My Wings

**So I've had this idea forever, changing so many multiple times, till I finally decided on what it should be about. So I will quickly summarize and warn you about this story. Since it turned out longer then expected, I've decided to split it into two chapters, so enjoy them both.**

 **I would like to dedicate this story to the fellow authors of mine, RequiemofKingdomHearts and Cloudhead. She specializes in dark poetry and he is the king of platonic AkuRokushi. I recommend you check out their stories! Hope you all enjoy this, especially** **RequiemofKingdomHearts and Cloudhead! Thank you both for inspiring me to write this!**

 **Warning: this story does have mentions of child abuse in it, you have been warned. Stop the abuse people! Aside from that, hope you all enjoy the Rokushi!** **I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any ways, or the cover image.**

 **Enjoy the story!**

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 _She whispered, "I'm afraid of falling," and he whispered, "I have wings."_

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Nighttime in Twilight Town. Everyone was at home, some getting ready for bed or for late night work. Everything seemed calm and tranquil on this beautiful, star-filled night, but this was not the case for one of the homes there.

A raven-haired girl was thrown, head-first, onto the dusty, cold, wooden floor of the attic by an older man. The girl didn't even react as she smacked the wood, she just laid limp like a broken puppet that had its strings cut. Her clothes were too small on her and hugged her frame tightly. She couldn't have been anymore than sixteen years old, but it was hard to tell though from all the abrasions her body bore. Cuts and bruises littered her skin, imperfections to the marble color of her skin. Her eyes, perhaps once a brilliant blue like the ocean, had a cloudy look to them, like unclean lens. She eventually turned her head towards the attics only way in and out, only to be met with the angry eyes of her abuser.

Saix. Her uncle.

He glared back, his yellow eyes seeming to burn right through her and her soul. His lips twisted into a snarl, revealing his unusually sharp teeth. His long, blue hair shone with light from the moonlight streaming in from the window, also revealing his pointy ears at the same time. Just by looking at him, you could just get the feeling of deep intimidation from him, searing into your mind and causing fear to rise up and bury itself into the deepest part of your being. He was a predator, and if you got in his way, you became the prey.

 _"You will stay here, you wretched, insignificant puppet, and you will wallow in your worthlessness until it is all you see yourself as. You hear me?! Worthless!"_

The attic door slammed behind him, sending dust and plaster falling onto the ground bellow and spreading clouds everywhere. A chunk fell on the girl's head and she winced as another shock of pain shot through her body. She shut her eyelids tightly and drew her legs into her chest and hugged them tight. The pressure between her eyelids became so great until she could not help but let two, thin tears drip from her face and down to the left as gravity affected them while she was curled up on her left side.

Her eyes squeezed tighter to let more out, but she had only received a tiny amount of water today from an ice cube that had fallen on the floor as Saix had gone to get a drink. She had quickly snatched it off the tiles the second his back was turned and quickly stuck in her mouth, ignoring the cold numbing of it as she let it melt on her tongue and wet her dry mouth and throat. That had been it. Her only food today had been three, shriveled grapes that had fallen on the floor as well and a tiny piece of a crust of something from the paper plate that he had thrown away.

After a minutes worth of crying silently on the cold floor, she slowly uncurled herself and cringed as her sore muscles cried out in pain as she tried to pull herself over to the windowsill on the wall beside her. It was her only gateway to ever seeing the outside world. Ever since she was a child, she had considered the stars to be her friends. Though she had long moved on out from her toddler years, slower though mentally, just seeing them just made her feel comforted. The window was a classic attic four panel, window pane with a hook in the middle to allow it to be opened. She reached for the hook and gently slid it up and out of its hold. She gritted her teeth as she moved onto her knees. They cracked in response.

She gently straightened out both of her hands and placed them both on one side of the glass. She shivered as the coolness from the glass flew up her arms and sent her hairs on end. She leaned forward and the hinges creaked as they slowly pried open, sending in a cold wind. She shivered as it hit her front and nearly sent her reeling back, but the girl inhaled a deep amount of air, her lungs aching as the drop in temperature hit them bottom first. She switched to breathing through her nostrils to keep herself warm. As soon as the wind came in it stopped. Her nose picked up the scent of the night air, pulling her into a more serene state. She tilted her head up, ignoring the recent bruise on her neck as the tiny drops of light found their way to her eyes. How frail they seemed up there, only revealed when the sun went away and darkness replaced the light and filled in the background of the sky so they could shine and be seen.

Her eyes searched against the velvet night until she found the star she always looked for. Right in front of her, straight out the window, a tiny light. As similar to every other star in the sky, but it was _her_ star. Her mother's. The one she had pointed out the night she had had her worst nightmare.

She had been taken outside and sat in her mother's lap as they sat in the grassy part of her backyard. Her eyes followed to the little, night sun that her mother's finger had guided out. It was small, not at all different from the other stars out tonight. _'Why was it special,'_ she had asked her.

 _'Because it was spotted by you,'_ she answered. Her younger self had giggled, typical for a five-year-old's behavior. They had spent quite some time out there, stargazing, until sleep had begun to take over, tiredness filling her body. She slumped up against her mother's body, her head going back till it hit her shoulder. She remembered a small, yet gentle chuckle from her mother as she gathered her together and tightly in her arms as she made her way back into the house. She tried to stay up and managed till they got to her room where she was taken away from the warmth and safety of her mother and placed on the soft, yet cool mattress of her bed.

 _'Goodnight my little Xi-Xi. Sleep well. May your dreams be sweet. The nightmares will not bother you anymore.'_

Yet the nightmares never did go away. Shortly after, her mother had died of an unknown illness, leaving her in the 'care' of her late father's brother. That is, if beating, starving and locking her in the attic was considered as caring. He had always been remote and aloof, never visiting her family before. She always thought of him as mysterious and strange. That is until she met him.

He was a monster.

She had barely turned six when she was placed with him. Right away, she knew she was in danger. Her first week, she woke up at night, slumped against a wall, after she had smacked into it earlier when she had quietly tip-toed passed him when he was watching TV and her bare, exposed foot took in a shard of glass from a broken beer bottle. She had screamed in pain, setting the predator off as he screamed at her to shut up and his arm made contact with her. She got up dizzily off the ground and swayed as she walked to the empty couch and collapsed face first onto it. Her first day as victim had been first of many days, leading into weeks, then months, then years.

Next thing she knew, it became a daily routine. She stayed in the attic all day, only coming out of it when told for... well, whenever he said so. He would almost always leave her alone in the house. To make sure she didn't try to escape, the door and windows were locked tightly, and with only with a key that he had that then could they be unlocked. Trapped in, she tried searching around for something to sustain her, something that she could digest without being discovered. And you want to know the other thing he locked so she wouldn't get into? The fridge. Same lock as the door and windows. Her only chances of getting food and water aside from the gruel he less-than-often gave her were from the trash and then near-parched water dispenser from the fridge.

The house was exceedingly silent throughout the day. She hated the silence. It drove her mad, slowly pushing her into insanity. Not like a killer's insanity or one you might find of a person being placed into an asylum, but a different kind of madness. She craved for sound. She constantly tried to find it. She would press her ear tightly against the window to at least try and hear something outside. More often than not it was silent too, but each muffled sound from the outside soothed her. Sound comforted her. It was the only sounds she could listen to without getting hurt from.

He usually came home around 6:00 or 7:00 p.m-ish. She always tried to get out of his way when he stormed in, listening to the empty room for the fearful breaths of a little girl trying to hide from him. He always found her though, always found her and found a reason to yell at her or hurt her. Over the years, she had discovered if she remained quiet and bit down on her lip to stop from screaming, he would eventually tire of beating her up and not receiving a reaction from it so he would stop quicker and leave her alone. However, with this method it also had a price.

Holding in her emotions, her fear, and her pain. Having to martyr all throughout the beatings, both verbally and mentally. Every beating she endured, every word she refused to let come out of her mouth, she forced to hold in and not reveal her sentiments. Every time his words hit her emotionally, it hit her mentally too. Her pent-up emotions grew under the will of submission. She no longer feared the beatings, she accepted them without reply. His fists would leave bruises on her limbs and face yet she let him hit her, not bothering to shield herself any longer. She was no longer in control of herself, she was his puppet now. A broken, emotionless puppet.

Yet she looked up at the star. It was the only thing stopping her from ending it, she had to be strong. Even though her heart was cracked, it still was the thing inside of her that made her just strong enough to survive another day. The star glowed with a small amount of light that made her heart feel less heavy. She gazed at it tonight, feeling healing going into her. She closed her eyes tightly, letting it absorb without anything hindering it. She could feel the small rays of starlight on her closed eyelids and could tell that there was nothing shading it in her sight from behind the thin, skin covers.

Suddenly, she felt the light behind her eyes become covered by something. Her eyes shot open again and instantly closed as she saw something approaching straight towards her at high speeds. She heard as startled yelp and felt the wind stream past her head almost painfully before she fell onto her back and whatever the object was crashed into some of the boxes placed up in the attic. She heard the object or creature yelp in both pain and surprise, but she didn't dare open her eyes till she knew it was safe to open them again.

"Oh man," she heard a voice say. Her body instinctively flinched. It was clearly a boy's voice, and since the only male she had ever met was Saix, her view on the entire human race was that they were savage and cruel and would try to find ways to hurt her. Yet she allowed her eyes to open just slightly. Though the second she caught sight of him, they shot wide open.

It was a boy. He appeared to be around her age-wise, just maybe older than her by a year or two, but he was unlike any other ones she had seen before from out her window. His eyes were the exact same as her's, a bright, ocean-blue, yet while her's held fear and a dull cloudiness, his sparkled with clarity and held curiosity in their depths. His hair was a honey-brown, the style all windswept-like as if he had just gotten out of bed. His clothes were similar to the ones she had seen boys outside wear, but there was something different about them. For one, they seemed awfully bulky, and she couldn't see why till he turned around and she could see what made him different from the others. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open in shock.

This boy had wings.

Creamy white feathers, ranging in various lengths, compiled together into two, huge wings sticking out from this boy's shoulder blades. They were almost as big as he was. He shook off the dizziness and his wings followed the movements. A few down feathers shook loose along with the dirt and dust in the attic. The boy started coughing as the dust reached his nose. She held her breath and tried to make herself as small as possible so that he wouldn't see her.

Then he turned. Their eyes locked on to each other. He sucked in a deep breath of air while she released hers in shock. Both their eyes were exact mirror copies of each other. While his held warmth and innocence while hers held fear and brokenness. His eyes suddenly widened in shock as he then realized he had been seen. He quickly stood up and dusted his clothes off as his other arm went to the back of his head and rubbed it.

"Uh. Ah heh, um. Beautiful night we're, um, having tonight," he stuttered. She winced at the sound of his voice, though it was noticeably lighter and sounded nicer than Saix's.

She pulled her knees closer to her chest and whimpered. "Are you an angel sent from heaven to take me away from here," she whispered, almost inaudibly. He cocked his head in confusion.

"Um, I'm sorry, but what did you say," he asked as he took a step closer to hear her better. She whimpered again and he stopped abruptly in shock.

"I-I said are you an angel from heaven to take me away from here," she said a bit louder this time. The confusion lessened in the boy's expression.

"A-angel? I'm not an angel," the boy replied. His hand moved from the back of his neck to the top of his head. "Or at least I don't think I am."

"Oh," was all she could come up with to reply. She looked down at her toes and laid her head on her knees. He looked at her closely. She was maybe about his age and she had short cropped, raven hair, pale skin, and her eyes was the same as his, only much cloudier. He stared at her harder and noticed that she had lots of scabs and bruises on her arms and skin.

He changed his focus to the room he had crashed into. It was clearly an attic with a few sparse things in it, a few boxes and old furniture. But the thing he noticed there was most of was dust. A thick layer of dust lay everywhere and on everything, on the floor, on the walls, in the air. Everywhere. He looked down to his shoes and noticed there were footprints made in the dusty floor. This attic was so... dirty. So worn. So neglected.

He turned back to the girl, who had been staying still and silent as he looked around. Something about her, something just inside him made him think that she and this attic were alike in so many ways. They were both so... abandoned.

"Um, I'm sorry miss for, ah, crashing into your... um," he stuttered as his brain quickly tried to come up with a term for this place.

"Room." Her head rose and their eyes locked again.

"Your room? Um, right, I'm sorry for crashing into your room." He began rubbing the back of his head again. "So... I'm Roxas. What's yours?" She looked shocked at the question. He thought it was just at the change of the conversation, but for her it was something different entirely that shocked her. Her name? What was her name?

 _Tool. Doll. Pawn. Slave. Heartless. It._

 _Puppet._

Those were all the names Saix gave her, but what was her real name? It seemed so long since she's heard it or even remembered it. Her last memory of anyone calling her by it was her mother, right before she passed away. What was it again? The length? The syllables? The sound of it being pronounced? A tiny echo came into her mind. Her brain ached as it tried to grasp onto it.

"Si-, Shi-, Xi-, Xi-Xion." Her real name? It had been so long that having it come back to her seemed so foreign now, like it had never been familiar. But... Xion. The name bounced in her brain and the familiarity of it came back to her.

"Xion," the boy repeated, his voice sending her back to reality and she almost flinched as her true name was called for the first time in years. "Xion," he repeated again, letting the name roll of his tongue. "I like that name. You have a very pretty name. Nice to meet you, Xion," Roxas said.

Her... her name was pretty? He thought her name was pretty? She felt blood rush to her cheeks, causing them to burn with a visible red. No one had ever paid her a kind word like that before. Not since her mother's time. "T-thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he replied softly. He then took another step towards her, his foot causing the floorboard underneath to creak under his weight. Xion shook as she watched him. She hugged herself tighter as he came over to her until he was just a yard away. He bent his knees and leaned down to the floor as he sat on his knees before her.

"Um, p-pardon me, miss, but why are you in the attic? Isn't it pretty late to be out of your room and exploring this dark and dusty place this time at night," he asked. She looked at him and saw his eyes and expression. Curiosity, innocence, and concern were evident throughout his entire face. He didn't know about here. How could he? He had only crashed into here just a minute ago.

Sniffing and rubbing her tired eyes, she replied, "Actually, this... is... my room." She looked down a bit awkwardly at her fingers and began to play with her hands a bit.

"Oh," he replied, also feeling the awkwardness of the question asked. The room became silent again as the two tried to shake off a bit of the atmosphere that was making them feel weird and uncomfortable.

"So, um... d-do you like living up here," he asked tentatively. He wanted to be the one who would break the tension set in-between them. Xion squeezed herself tighter if that even was any more possible.

"I-I don't h-have a choice," she stuttered out. His eyes widened as he stared at her.

"But why," he breathed out, almost not speaking at all. He stared at her in confusion, then in shock. She had completely buried her head into her legs and her black bangs covered her face. To his surprise, thanks to his exceptional hearing as well, he heard her breath became ragged and he could actually hear her heart begin to thump into her chest harder.

 _Thump..._ his form froze as he heard a quick breath of air being sucked in... _Thump._.. he then heard it, a short, uneven intake... _Thump..._ he became rigid as a sound came from her lips, one that made him feel sad to his own heart. Her breaths, inhaling and exhaling, were now shaking her body. Her voice began to get a little more audible as he heard her whimper an see her shiver with sadness. Then he realized why.

She was hurting.

Even he could understand. His kind, not quite angels and not quite humans but somewhere in between, could understand a hurting heart and another hidden trick was they could actually hear the heart. The heart didn't necessary speak or give out clear messages, but it could send out emotions and signals that allowed him to decode and, sometimes, even feel what the user was. He could feel her heart now, his own replicating the feelings inside her.

Instantly his body froze up and he collapsed face first onto the floor, gripping his chest, right over his heart, as if he had just been stabbed. His heart was experiencing such mass negative emotions. Pain. Suffering. Depression. Agony. Fear. Hurt. Sadness. Injury. Suffering. Abandonment.

It was so intense. It felt like he had been shot in the heart. He fell onto his side as tears gathered behind his eyelids. He squeezed his eyes tightly and the fluid was pressure out, dampening his eyelashes before going over the base of his bottom eyelids and falling down the side of his cheeks. Both tears dripped down his rouge-tinted cheeks, leaving shiny, thin trails of liquid behind. The liquid began to dry in the dusty, attic air, only to be replenished by a new set of saline drops.

Yet the tears were of no aid to soothing the pain in his heart. The pain he felt in hers. Sucking in a breath through his nose in a sniffle, he shakily pushed himself by his hands and used his arms to support himself back onto his knees. His legs hit the floorboards with a soft thump. He panted heavily and stared towards Xion again, his vision blurry and grey with a veil of moisture building up more and more. Xion could only be seen as a foggy blur before him.

He moved his arms towards her in a crawl. His palm struck the cold floor in a slap and he nearly buckled and fell flat on his face. He panted heavily as he attempted another step towards her. His muscles ached and he felt them drain of energy. Desperate to get to her, he disconnected his bond with her heart and instantly he felt all the negative emotion disappeared. He sucked in air rapidly, trying to fill his aching lungs and regain his senses quicker.

His eyes turned up at Xion again and he fund he could see her much easier. Brushing away the excess fluid also helped. He tried again to crawl to her, this time his limbs not so wobbly. His distance between him and her shortened till he got back to sitting on his knees before her sobbing form. His hand tentatively reached out for her shoulder, before it and its twin suddenly darted beside her, looping around her back and shoulders and pulling her towards his chest. He held her in a comforting hold, letting her cry into his neck. She froze up, whimpered and squirmed in offense, but then he felt his hand brush up and down her back. Up and down. Up again, down again. Making circular motions in a calm, soothing way. Xion stopped resisting and cried openly into his arms.

She then realized that he was not like him. He wasn't at all like her uncle Saix. Where as he took pleasure in her pain and suffering, Roxas was trying to null it. Instead of harmful words, ignoring her and allowing he to experience unimaginable pain, Roxas spoke nothing and the silence comforted her, not like when she was left alone in the house, but his mere presence had an uplifting inside her. He treated her like she existed. He made her feel like she mattered, a little girl needing to be comforted. He was soothing and taking away the pain her heart held for so long, making the burden she carried more bearable.

He said he wasn't an angel, but he felt like it. Her guardian, shining up above to finally come down to give physical comfort now aside from the feeling she got from just staring up at him.

She didn't want him to leave, but she knew, in the deep crevices and recesses of her mind and heart, that he would be leaving in a little while. She didn't want him to go, so she held on tighter. He hugged her tighter in return. She buried her head into the crook of his neck, taking peace in his warmth and the light vibrations of his beating heart. Her tears stopped flowing and she shut her eyes tightly to use her ears to hone of that small, yet powerful organ functioning inside him.

 _Bump bump... bump bump... bump bump... bump bump... bump bump..._

She found herself listening in on his vital organ, taking in how safe and secure she felt listening to it. She wanted to hold it close to her, hold it to her chest and never let it go. It made her heart ache with pain, pain of wanting to sync with his. It may had been a far-fetched idea, since hearts cannot be controlled of how fast or hard they beat or can they match the exact beat and tempo of others, but she considered the thought of it to be so gentle and comforting. Like it made her complete in a way.

He made her feel whole again.

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As she predicted. Roxas couldn't stay for much longer. He'd said he had to get back to his home, since they might be worried about him taking so long from his simple 'night flight'. She didn't want to let him go. His small amount of time there meant the world to her. His presence brought her comfort, taking away her sorrows and suffering away just for so long that she felt more whole, rather than the broken puppet or doll part she was meant to play.

A person rather than a puppet. A human being rather than a doll. Someone who held value and self esteem rather than the name given by Saix. Worthless. No longer wretched and treated lower than dirt, she was somebody. Not a nobody, not anybody, but someone. He made her feel like that and she almost wanted to restrain him from leaving here, or make him take her with him to wherever he would go.

But she knew he couldn't, and it seemed to her that he didn't like it either. He kept looking back at her as he slowly put his first foot out and into the outside air, still as glittering and dark as it had been when he had left it and crashed into a person's room earlier that night. Then, as soon as he had placed his entire left leg out, she finally stopped him

"Don't leave," she said, grasping on to his sleeve gently, but tightly. He turned back and saw her scared eyes. He felt his heart begin to ache. He didn't want to go as much as she didn't want him too, but he had too. Axel would be upset if he didn't get back before curfew, and he was the one who had taken him in when no one else did. He was like his older brother and a father to him. He gently pried her hand off and looked directly into her eyes.

"I'll come back again soon. I promise," he finally said. He brought his hand closer to her face and nearly flinched back as she shut her eyes tightly. His thoughts went to pondering of whom or what had made her like this. Trying again, he flattened out his finger and gently pressed his palm to her left cheek. Xion flinched again, but then loosened up as she felt the warmth coming from his hand. He rubbed his fingers against her cheek, making a small sound, almost like a purr, come from her throat. It seemed like she hadn't felt any affection or comfort from anyone in a long time.

"I'll try to be back here tomorrow night. Will you be here too," he asked. Xion opened her eyes, revealing her sapphire orbs again. She lifted her head and lowered it as much as she could without losing Roxas's hand on her face, but eventually he did slowly lift his hand and she shivered as the cool night air kissed her skin. Roxas pushed out the window till his head and torso were out. She then watched as his wings spread apart as an updraft suddenly caught up under him and started causing him to rise.

She gasped as he suddenly fell out of the window and disappeared from sight. Her feet immediately rushed her to the window and she looked down, preparing to see a broken body on the cobblestones below. Her eyes narrowed as they tried adjusting to the darkness and trying to find him. Suddenly, something streaked up and she quickly backed inside to avoid getting hurt. Her eyes widened at the shadow before her, staring back and smiling.

Roxas. His wings were fully outstretched, allowing the wind to hold him up. They were as wide as Roxas's height. The thin amount of light from the crescent moon illuminated each feather shaft and gave it a glossy sheen. They were absolutely stunning to behold. She looked at his smiling face. He lifted his hand to her and waved before turning and flying into the night, going at swift speeds and up higher and higher, farther and farther, till he disappeared into the darkness.

Her eyes left when he had left from her sight. She pulled back into the room and shut the windows tightly, but left the lock loose, not wanting him to be trapped out there when he arrived back here. The floorboards creaked under her weight as she made the distance towards her cot. It was hard, lumpy and smelled musty. The pillow barely had anything soft in it for her to rest her head on and the blanket was dusty, worn thin and was full of holes. It barely made for a good night's sleep, but it was better than sleeping on the creaky floorboards.

Her body felt drained of any energy as she sluggishly slid her hand under the ratty covers and lifted them up as she slid her body in and underneath them. Her hand and head plopped on the bed as tiredness immediately began to creep over. A cloud of dust had risen from the pillow when her head fell onto it. Some of the particles found themselves trapped in the intake of Xion's breathing and flew into her nostrils with the tug of airflow.

Xion's breath hitched as the foreign matter tickled her nose and her lungs couldn't absorb it in. Her body seized up as it prepared to expel it. Her head thrust forward as her mouth and nose sprayed out the dirt, along with some tiny moisture droplets, from her system. Once it was out, she breathed in some air that lacked a large quantity of the substance and slowly lifted her languid hand to the underside of her nose and rubbed any remainder of the stuff that might cause her to sneeze anymore.

Drowsy eyelids began to struggle to keep open, as if invisible weights had been placed at the base of each cover. Muscles begged to be put to rest as well. The night air made her feel lethargic and her weary mind agreed with her body. She tiredly moved her torso and legs closer to the far end of the bed before turning to her side and curling them up along with the covers to better conserve heat. Sluggish arms moved under and over her pillow, encasing it and pulling it tighter against her head and neck. As the last bits of her conscious mind began fading off into the oblivion of sleep, her last thoughts were of the winged boy that had been here with her and had left just a few moments ago.

Taking one last sigh before she let sleep finally, her last contemplation was that if tonight was all just a dream, she hoped never to wake up again.

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 **I hope all of you enjoyed the first chapter. The next chapter is already posted so you can just go a read it now. Please don't forget to leave a review for this chapter. Remember, reviews are loved and cherished. Sincerely, v.t.7**


	2. Give me Light

**Part 2. Now we get some knowledge of Roxas's past. The warning in this chapter is the same as the first though, child and domestic abuse is mentioned and discernment is still advised. Aside from that, enjoy the chapter.**

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Wind streamed past his face as he accelerated speed. His eyes drifted to the clock tower nearby. The clock's hands just were past midnight. He was so late, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Axel sent him out to take care of some ducks that were zipping around outside their home. It had taken just a few hits to make them disappear into oblivion, but by the time he had checked the clock on the wall inside, he already knew he was behind schedule.

He had promised to see her again only a few weeks ago, but it had turned into something more. For nearly every night of the past month he had been returning to the same attic with the same girl existing inside it. It seemed when he had first connected with her heart and felt her pain, his kept aching to go back and take part of her pain she felt so she would have someone who truly understand the suffering she had endured every day for the past years. He kept coming back to her and helping her remove some of the weight placed over her and the unwanted feeling that had come with it.

Over the past few nights though he had noticed a change. It had been subtle at first, but it became more noticeable as the nights went by. His heart would bond to her's and he would feel the whole range of the emotions she was experiencing, like a computer connected to program. His heart would grow as heavy as the burden of feelings was upon her's, but something had shifted over the time he spent with her. The gravity on his heart was somewhat light than usual and when the flood of emotions spread all throughout him, it felt more like if he had submerged under a small stream of water, with only a slight pull of a current now and then.

He couldn't understand what was happening until one night when he had climbed in through the window and Xion had run up to him and shocked him by throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly. He connected to her heart and froze at the foreign emotion present there.

Hope.

Faint, like mist, but there. Frail, like the gossamer and dewy wings of a butterfly, but rooted like a tree. Like a tiny glow, a firefly, almost fully hidden by the dark branches stemming from the negative emotions webbed and anchored around and in her heart. The small and frail light, it seemed to spread out throughout his being, despite its small stature. It felt so pure and welcoming, like feeling the warmth of the sunlight after being trapped in the cold and hiding abyss for so long. And with it, he realized, brought something else. Healing. After so long, being alone, neglected and starved of any comforting feeling whatsoever, he had brought some hope and healing into her life.

He recalled how he felt when Axel told him when he had first brought him in. He had been abandoned as a baby; his parents left him to die in the woods in winter. He had only been born a few hours ago, or so Axel had said, when they both took him in his little bundle of soft clothing, walked some ways out into the thick of the forest and set him on a snow covered long and left him behind just, as the wind started blowing and flakes of snow began to fall down on his exposed face. He had been fast asleep when he no longer felt the warmth or the beating of a calm, steady heart soothing him to sleep, instead feeling a harsh wind peeling at his skin and flakes of frozen water stinging his face.

His mouth had opened as he let out his cries, trying to call back those who had brought him into this world and now had left him to die in the cruel and savage environment to die. He had no idea that he had been taken away from the warmth, the calm and steady heart and the security of being with his parents to being left behind to find a frozen death in this place, with no one to hear his calls for anyone, anyone who would take him away from this unforgiving place and back to what it was before.

Yet someone was there and did hear him.

Axel. A young man with hair the color and style of the flames and fire he controlled. His eyes were the fierce color of between the orange and the blue rims of the flame. His eyes had been scanning around the forest on this wintery night and had locked on to a couple with a bundle in the woman's arm, heading deeper and deeper into the trees. Normally he wouldn't had cared to watch, considering how humans were a dull and boring subject to watch, but with the approaching blizzard coming and the already present chill in his crimson feathers, he felt that something was wrong. So he followed them, flying up above their heads silently, using the tree tops and shadows to hide if they turned up. The two seemed very suspicious and were constantly scanning around their surrounding, as if watching out for someone who would discover them here.

He landed on a pine tree branch and bent down to look at them once they stopped right before a fallen tree trunk. He then saw the woman place the bundle on the log, already covered with snow from the night before, and suddenly raced backwards from where she and the man had came from. Axel snorted as he watched them disappear, thinking how frivolous and tedious it was that they had spent this much time trudging outside to dispose of some trash. He started to spread out his wings to take off when... he heard something.

A baby's cries. He immediately dipped down from the branch he was on and came down to the blanket wrapped object, just as the blizzard began to start. He quickly caused his body temperature to rise a few degrees and wrapped his wings around himself to keep warm before he trudged over through the mounds of snow and looked down on the part of the bundle where the blanket had exposed something. He nearly reeled back in shock. A baby, perhaps only a few hours old and already red with cold, was the thing the couple left out here and left without. His eyes narrowed at the thought of them as he stared at the child. It was crying hard, but he knew that in only an hour or less, it would be as silent as when the blizzard ended, just another mound of snow on the log.

He shook his head of the thought. What could he do? He wasn't allowed to meddle with any human business. If the couple left the child on the log to die, then what right did he have to save it? None, that's what. He began to turn his body around to go when the baby then screamed harder as more snow had begun to melt and then refreeze on its face. He covered his ears to stop the painful noise, but then he felt something. His eyes widened in shock, before squinting down again as snowflakes hit them. He placed one hand over his eyes to shield them and slowly lifted the other one to his heart. He felt something nagging inside of it, a sort of pulling. He slowly turned back to the baby and extended his arm out to it before gently placing his hand over the baby's blanket covered front. A small rush of the infant's emotions flooded over him. He couldn't understand much of them, since they were underdeveloped as all babies were, but one thing he could understand that this baby had something in his heart.

A spark of light. A strong, yet dying spark. He looked harder at the child. He seemed normal, but he couldn't be. Rarely did any humans he came across have any light at all. Babies tended to have some light, due to their innocence, but he had never come across any child with a spark this strong. The baby's cries had begun to die down, but something inside him compelled him to prevent them from forever becoming silent. He swiftly picked up the blanket and child and held them securely to his chest. The baby squirmed in his arms, but began to slow down as it reveled in the heat Axel's body gave off. It eventually stopped crying a Axel shaded its face from the icy blast of wind and shut its eyes peacefully, completely surrendered in the hold of his warm protector.

For Axel, it was official. He was taking the kid back home with him. He adjusted the child in his arm so that his head wouldn't get blasted with cold once his wings turned back in flight. He gripped the child tightly before spread out his wings wide and quickly thrusting them downward, the momentum springing him into the air like a rocket.

And so he began to raise him. He had named him Roxas and had raised him, making sure he was clothed and dressed, nursing him back to help when he was sick, teaching him all the things he needed to know. Heck, he had even given him his own pair of wings. Roxas owed his life to him and now it was time to return the favor by saving Xion.

He dipped down in flight as he saw Xion's attic in the distance. He was getting close and he could see the window entrance in. The latch was always left unlocked for him, but Xion had told him of her uncle who said there be consequences if she neglected to keep the window panels closed. Saix. He grimaced at the name. For him, he was another reason Xion had a thing in common with him. Both were neglected misfits, abandoned each in their own way. Perhaps this is what gave them a better understanding of one another. He understood her pain. She felt at one with him.

Like two pieces of a puzzle, interlocking with one another. Two parts helping to make up a picture. A complete work.

He was close enough now to the house to assert a connection with Xion's heart. It not only helped him know what she was feeling, but Xion had claimed that she could feel warmth in her heart everytime they connected. He wondered if prolonged exposure for heart connection lead to the one being connected to to feel the one connecting with, if that person had been connecting for quite awhile. To put to short, Xion may have been developing her own connection to him and was able to feel some of his feelings and emotions. A connection to the heart could be described in feeling as like a bridge's two sides being pressed together, like two halves becoming a whole. He loved that feeling. It warmed his insides and lifted his spirits. She had this... this positive influence on him.

He started to slow down his flight speed as he approached closer. He sensed something nearby, as if around the attic was an aura, an atmosphere. Like the sun's gravity pulling in the planets in their orbits, he could easily bond with Xion when close. Light extended through an invisible bond, searching for an object to spread into as well. It bumped into something then sought to merge inside it but then it... stopped. Stopping mid-flight, he tried again, this time harder, to place some of his light through the bond leading into Xion's heart. Again, a bump, like an invisible obstruction in her heart. Focusing harder, he thrusted his light harder, trying to get it to accept it. Suddenly, like a hiccup, the blockage suddenly cleared for a second before closing again, but not before he felt some of his light go in.

The horrible realization kicked in. She was purposely blocking his connection with her. A wave of hurt came over him. Why was she rejecting him? A list of multiple ways she might hate him or never want to see his face ever again was already forming in his mind. What if she was sick of him, or just plain sick? What if he did something wrong that made her afraid of him? Did he do something wrong? Did he do something to her to make her hate him? His mind frantically searched through the past nights, searching for any memory where he went wrong. One little screw up, a mistake, a blotch on white cloth.

Then, everything slowed down drastically. A sound reached his ears, starting out as a tiny, almost inaudible ting, but growing louder and louder, filling the air with many, many more copies of the original ting that followed. A finally, at the climax of the sound, an earsplitting crack, he heard it. A gasp for breath. A sharp intake of oxygen to refill withered and starved lungs. Time was slowly moving along and he was aware of it, but his body and everything else was still affected by the speed. His sight seemed to blur as his head moved at molasses speed down towards the attic window and his pupils dilated in horror.

Like glimmering, fallen stars from the heavens above, shards of glass from the now shattered window caught the light of the full moon and reflected in all directions. The window had broken from an impact made by an object thrown at it, which now dropped along with the transparents prisms, like broken rainbows. His eyes followed into the center of the descending mass, at a black blur being pulled at an astonishing speed from the height it was at in.

In those brief moments of freezing time, something sounded in Roxas's mind. An acute noise, rather a din of an echo, pounded within his mind.

 _Bump bump..._

A powerful pump.

 _Bump bump..._

Flowing in and out of the strong beats.

 _Bump bump..._

Acceleration from emotions and instability.

 _Bump bump..._

A rapidly beating heart.

 _Bump bump..._

Light flooded that heart with no restrictions to hold it back. Light had no hinderance from the properties of time. It was so fast it could shoot through space and nothing would have affected it. As soon as the light hit the heart's core, an entire collection of feelings shot towards and hit him all over. Though his mind started to bend under the influences of the slowed time period, it still registered the emotion most powerful in the stressed tangles of the heart. Fear.

His wings suddenly folded into his back as his muscles suddenly reacted on their own, no longer desiring to hold him up. He sucked in a deep intake of air as he leaned forward to let gravity take grasp of him now that nothing was keeping him upward. The world around him began to blur as he began to plummet. But this time, he wasn't falling downward to land, he was falling to catch something from falling. His wings felt like stone against his back and he hoped that his weight would make him fall faster than her. He then entered the keep of all the falling glass shard, tinging with small, yet painfully annoying sounds. He passed through the outside ones and cringed as he felt them sting against his skin as they hit them in their fall. He shut his eyes so that he wouldn't receive any hits to his delicate orbs. The reflection from the moon bounced off the glass and directed the beams all over, sometimes bouncing off one another till they found a surface that could absorb them. Roxas provided a shadow for the ones in front of him.

As soon as he felt less needle-like hits to his face and head, he then dared to open his eyes. His girl was right before him. Though the ground was approaching swiftly, he used his awareness for the slowed time bubble he was in to take a look at her falling form. She was in a fetal position that was growing less scrunched as gravity weakened her arms as she fell. Her eyes were tightly shut, not bearing to see the world in her descent. Yet to his surprise, her mouth was closed, as if she could not bring herself to scream out the fear that her heart held so much of. He realized then that he was arm-length's away from her. He shot out his arms though time drastically slowed it down like he was reaching through gelatin. His fingers spread apart in order to grasp her hands spread out. He hesitantly shut his eyes tightly as his wings began to spread again, just to lower the impact to a less lethal level for the both of them. The ground was right below them, he could sense it approaching. His hands still reached out for the girl he cared about.

Had you been anyone standing nearby the house that night, you would had jumped in shock as a loud smack and the sound of glass breaking and shattering against the ground suddenly shocked you, the sound shooting up your spine and sending cold caterpillars and goosebumps after it. Shards broke off into smaller pieces, resembling now more like raindrops rather than cracked glass now. And right in the middle of the shardstorm, a boy was on his knees on the cobblestones, squeezing tightly on something in his arms. His wings were outstretched and then pressed up against his chest, adding extra strength to the hold.

He would keep holding onto her. He wouldn't let her go. He would stay with her through the night and forever after that.

* * *

Pain and numbness. Grouped in the spaces between muscles and sinew. Polar opposites, but still similar in their own ways. Pain. The result of nerves being stressed or strained to their limits, alerting the brain to cease whatever is causing the uncomfortable feeling. Numb. Lack of feeling, usually from the body's response to removing the pain or by application of some outside sedate. Both filled muscles and sinew. Dark was everything now. She wondered, "Was this death or some form limbo?"

She could feel nothing, yet she was briefly aware of a certain ache somewhere in her body. Yes, an ache. Somewhere in her chest cavity, a dimmer, yet heavier form of pain. It seemed to go in interval, sometimes throbbing sharply and others going back in. A steady pattern of numbness and pain, moving in and out of the other. The numb feeling giving a break from the searing stabs that suddenly, yet definitely came. Trading beats in a song of oblivion.

 _'Beat'_ she pondered. _'Beat'_. A drum in her chest. Something beat in her chest. Its name escaped her, but she remembered she had always had it. In the dim recollection of memory, she remembered always having it. It was one of her first senses, feeling that beat... and warmth. Yes, warmth. Collection of heat that provide comfort. She dimly felt it surrounding her. It was... nice. Like something was taking away all the hurt.

A dim flicker spread throughout her heard at the world. _'Hurt'?_ It sounded like... what was that world again. The word meaning the beat. The one that sounded like hurt but didn't feel like hurt. _'Hurt'._ The word bounced around in her mind. Wait, why couldn't she think straight. Was something wrong? Did something happen? It was all too much. Her head and chest hurt all over. Why was she hurting so much? Why was there no answers? All she could focus on was finding that word.

 _'Xion!'_

What? Who was calling her name? Why couldn't she still remember that word? She needed to find it again, hear it on the tip of her tongue.

 _'Xion, pleease...'_

I need to find this word first. Why can't I remember it. It's important, I know it is, but why can't I remember it?

 _'Wake up! Please wake up. You can't leave me.'_

I can't wake up. I know I need too, but... but I feel myself losing myself back to the darkness again. I can't stay aware for much longer. I wish I could've found the word though. All I can do now is allow myself to drift, drift into...

 _'No. No. Please... you have to wake up. Xion, I can feel my heart..."_

Heart? Heart! The steady beating of numbness and pain in my chest. It's that.

 _'-breaking now. Please wake up. Please..."_

R-Roxas? Roxas. Roxas! Where are you? I can hear you, but I can't find you. Huh, what's that up above?

 _'Xion. Follow the light.'_

The light? The bright warm thing right above me? Its shining over me. I feel blissfully safe in its rays. I don't feel like I'm fading apart anymore. It's soothing, cradling me in its warmth. I-I can feel my arm now. It's no longer numb, but it doesn't feel painful. Blood is rushing through my veins in it, but it doesn't hurt at all. I feel more stable, less likely to fade away.

 _'Xion...'_

I want, no, need to go now. I need to make sure Roxas knows I'm okay. The light is right above me, I can touch it now. My arms lifts up and stretches over my head like a moving crane. The orb of light grazes my fingertips, sending a warm, tingling sensation down my arms and then my spine. I smile and shut my eyes again as my hand grasps on to the ball of light and everything becomes blinding.

* * *

"Xion..."

From through blurry, watery and stinging vision, I look at her face and see that her eyelids are fluttering to open. Relief sweeps through me like a wave, knowing that she's alive and that she'll be able to wake up. Her eyelids start to open and close rapidly, like the beating of a butterfly's wing. The skin covering on and around one has taken on the color a dull-blue color, increasing every second in vibrancy. Rage flows through nme at the thought of who had given her such a hit to mar her perfect, marble-colored face.

Finally, after what seems to be forever, a thin slit of white appears under her eyelids, shaded by her long eyelashes. A tiny crescent of ocean blue showed just above it, but then both were quenched by the thin, covering again.

"Xion! You're alive. Wake up! Open your eyes," I said, fervently praying that she could hear me. My heart connected to hers, sharing light into her cracked soul. I could feel nothing but numbness, there was no emotion at all. My body froze when I heard a slight groan from Xion's lips. Her eyes fluttered a bit before they widened all the way.

"Xion," I whispered happily. Another moan escaped her throat and her eyes halfway. Her head gently fell to the side, landing on my shoulder.

"Ra-," she said weakly. "R-Roxas." Her voice was strained and quiet, but I knew what she was meaning to say. I squeezed her form tighter, letting her know that I knew I had heard her. She moaned in distress again and her head nuzzled my shoulder.

"Easy Xi'. I'm here. You're going to be fine. It's all going to be just fine." I felt her head turn left and right as much as it could without leaving my shoulder.

"S-s-s-Saix," she tried again. I cringed and held tighter to her at the mention of his name. I should had known at the second I say her falling that it was him who had did this to her. "H-h-he... d-d-did.. t-" I placed two fingers on her dry and cracked lips to quiet her down.

"Sssshhhh. It's fine. You don't have to explain anything. Just try and let go for a moment. Please," I asked. Her eyes stared at my face for a moment, scanning my face for my motives. When she deemed my face innocent enough, her eyes shut close again and her breath intake hitched for a moment before becoming calm again.

An energy began building in my chest and I mentally moved part of it towards Xion's chest and placed it through the invisible bond we have. An orb of white light could be seen on both our chests, right over our hearts, at this moment, but as the connection completed the light would fade back into us. I could feel what could be described as a click, an emotional and mental snap of our two hearts meeting each other. I could now peer into her heart and see the memories that made it, well, it. Scrolling past some of the older memories composing, I found the one of tonight I was searching for. Now I could see and emotionally experience what she had witnessed earlier tonight.

 _'A X-shaped scar on a face twisted in anger'_

My heart rate spike drastically now. I have seen Saix before and I knew what he looked like. I oftentimes had to make myself invisible before humans, in order to protect myself.

 _'It was growing bigger and bigger as it grew closer and closer. A back pressed against the window'_

My wings began to press forward against my shoulder blades as I felt it.

 _'The feel of a hot breath as he approached softly, yet deadly, like a predator cornering it prey.'_

Fear jolted through me. My neck grew sweaty in the increase of temperature. I began to breath heavily.

 _'Time slowed down as his arm rose up and his fingers curled around into a fist'_

I anticipate in agony as I know what is going to transpire next.

 _'It charges straight for the left eye, hitting its mark'_

My hand quickly shoots up to cover my left eyes. Though it is not real, only a memory, I can still feel the throbbing and prickling pain of the punch.

 _'The force sends me reeling back. My vision turns up as I violently hit the window. The sound of glass cracking only increases the fear of what's happening next'_

My eyes blink rapidly, even when closed, as the liquid sadness begins building up at the base. I squeeze Xion for extra comfort, for her and for me.

 _'A searing crack shatters the tranquility of the night. Suddenly, the pressure on the back completely dissipates. Nothing keeps pressing against it. Glass slowly begins to break off from one another and in the direction of the force pushing it'_

The crack in the glass are so vivid. Like a jagged, dark lightning bolt scratching and tearing apart the solid structure into pieces easily grinded underfoot.

 _'Light catches between the grey rims of the glass. Reflection from the stars up above as they appear, just faint dots against the velvet night. Arms forced back now seen to grave the light for just a glimmer of a second, before being pulled away violently as the glass descends too.'_

So much things to take in, even in the brief seconds of the fall. Some moisture gathers together till it is a perfect sphere at the tip of my eyelashes.

 _'The world blur together in thin lines, like those found in paintbrush strokes on watercolor. Shards of glass fall like shooting stars as moonlight touches them. Only the night sky remained clear, yet ever pulled away now'_

The tear finally grows heavy enough with fluid that it drips it swiftly, yet then slower descent down my cheek.

 _'A shadow shoots forward, the stars disappear. The glass and blurred world doesn't. Pain builds up in the throat, yet it refuses to burst out'_

My body is racked with shivers as sobs escape my throat.

 _'Something reaches forward. A limb. An arm. Fingers spread out instead of curled in. The hand trying to reach the hands already flailing in the night'_

My throat suddenly feels dry, yet I want to release a scream of the pain I feel. The pain I feel in Xion.

 _'Darkness suddenly spreads across everything, starting at the rims of vision and moving center towards.'_

Tears drip freely from my eyes and down my face. I don't care if anyone sees me like this, it's all just too much to experience right now.

 _'Black dissipates the light. Grey fades into both the dark and the center. White is the last thing seen, a faint spark in the eyes of the boy reaching out towards the arm'_

 _"Roxas"_

My eyes widen back open again. I swung my head, tears flying all over, as I look back at Xion. Her eyes stare at me, and even through the veil of watery sadness and pain I can see concern in her face. I shut my eyes tightly to squeeze out the remaining fluid. It hurts me to let her see me like this. I should be the one looking concerned for her while she cries, not vice versa. I don't object when I suddenly feel warm fingers pressed against my cheek, followed by the palm and then the thumb which gently rubs against the trails of tears.

I hear a small sob escape her throat and I look again at her face. Tears are wetting the tips of her eyelashes as well as falling down her face. I reach out and gently brush them away with the tips of my fingers. Her eyes flutter at the swift movement and another cry reaches her lips. Careful not to hurt her, I bend my head down till my forehead meets her and gently presses on hers.

We stay like that for a couple minutes, just allowing ourselves to take comfort in each other's presence and sympathies. It was pleasant feeling, just knowing safety in each other's arms and allowing ourselves to let out our emotions. No judgment, no criticizing if we dd make a scene, just peacefulness almost.

"R-Roxas," her voice broke through the silence after some of our tears had dried. My finger brushed away some of the crust off our cheeks and eyelids as I looked down at her. Her eyes had lost some sadness and had taken on a begging look, like a little child looking up at their parent after asking a question.

"Roxas. What do I do now," she asked. Like a little child asking their parent, she was begging for an answer. If she didn't get it, well, he'd didn't know.

"I-I," I stuttered out. She could go back to her abusive uncle, she'd just get beat up by him again. Plus he'd ask too many questions of how she fell from two-stories up and is completely unharmed. No, she'd never survive another episode if she went back. So... why couldn't she just get away from him?

"Xion," he sighed. My hands gently grasped her shoulders. She looked at him confused. "I-, you know I can't allow you to go back there. I can't bear to see you day after day hurt in some way or another by him. If you go back, one of these days, you won't come back, okay. He's shown me tonight that you won't last much longer with him." Her eyes were fixed on mine and I could see the uncertainty in her royal-blue orbs.

"B-but, where will I go now," she asked. I gently reached out and pressed my hand to the side of her face and stroked it with my thumb. She leaned into the soft touch. I leaned my face closer to hers, so close I could see my reflection in her pupils.

"Xion," I said softly. "Would you like to live with me?" Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at me in shock. I smiled softly at her, silently telling her that I meant it. All of a sudden, I saw her expression move from shocked to scared.

"B-but Roxas. I-I can't," she replied, her eyes going down to her hands. Softly, I moved my hand from her cheek to under her chin and pressed it up to meet my eyes again.

"Why not," I whispered.

"Because I'm afraid," she whispered back. Her face was full of fear.

"Of what," I asked. Her eyes turned down again and she began playing with my hands in my lap. She didn't say anything for a few moments.

"Xion, I know there's much out there to be afraid of, but I need you to trust me. I want what's really best for you, but I can't give you it if you refuse to take it. Saix can't hold onto and hurt you if you're not there. So please... let me help you." Silence came between us. It was just a few seconds, but it seemed like forever. I was about to speak again when suddenly I felt a strong pair of arms wrap around my neck and hold on tightly. Unconsciously, my arms return the hug and hold tightly to Xion.

"Roxas... I'm... sorry," she whispered suddenly. My grip wavers for a second.

"W-w-what," I ask. I feel her nod against my shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm being such a drag. You really shouldn't care this much for me," she started, but I immediately cut her off.

"Don't say that. Never say that. You're my friend, I should care this much for you. I love you too much to let you go after all that's happened," I said. She stares at me for a second and I can see her cheeks turning pink. Then... realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I can feel the heat in my cheeks rising and I bet my face is so red right now that if there was a tomato farm nearby, my face would take first prize. I can't believe I just admitted that out loud to her. I feel like such a dork.

"Y-you do?" I look at her expression and, hesitantly, I reestablish a connection with her heart. I feel at first nothing again, but then... I feel hope rising from inside of it. Hesitantly, I nod my head in reply.

Nothing happens for a moment. We just stare at each other, both waiting to see what each other will do next. Neither of us wants to break the ice, we want each other to do it. The quiet starts becoming unbearable, it spreads out everywhere, through everything. The sound of breathing is the only thing heard between the two of us. I can finally feel myself cracking under the pressure.

"Of course I do. I mean I-I, well, um, I," I stutter, not sure at all how to respond. Suddenly, all the world seemed to stream away and fell onto my back, along with Xion. I felt dazed when my head hit the cobblestones painful and forcefully, not enough to send me unconscious but enough to make it hurt. I looked up blurrily at Xion and realized her face was really close to mine. Real close. Then... all the air just streamed out of my lungs. I feel my lips suddenly go warm and feel pressure on them. My eyes shoot open in shock and I see Xion, just, right in front of me. Her head is tilted a bit and her eyes are closed. My eyes travel down past her nose until I can't see it past mine.

I really should get used to it by now, but realization keeps sneak attacking me. Her arms grasp onto my shoulders and then slide down to my neck before they lock onto one another. Slowly, my arms and wings tighten gently around her back and shoulders, deepening our kiss. Our lips fit perfectly together, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Like they were made for each other. A rush of adrenaline courses through my veins, and I like it. My heart subconsciously connects to hers, sharing the light and positive sensation of emotions with her. A small sound, almost like a purr, erupts softly from her throat. My hand moves from her shoulder to the back of her head and I began stroking her raven hair gently.

This last only for a minute more, but the effects are still there. Our mouths hang open as we try to regain the air we've lost during our connection. We remain held in each other's arms. The ghost pressure of each other's lips still was there. My thoughts were all scrambled by now, but now are racing to collect again. I knew what I had originally said to her must get through to her brain.

"Xion," I whispered. Her eyes focused back on me. Her cheeks were still pink from the moment we had together. I tenderly took her hands off my back and shoulder blades before placing them in my lap and squeezing them tightly. "Come with me," I say once more, my voice almost inaudible. She didn't respond, but I still could see her uncertainty and fear swirling around in her irises. Hesitantly, yet urgently, I grasp her shoulders lightly. "Please, you don't have any reason to be afraid. I want you to be free of his sad and painful life. I don't want you to spend another day hurting. Please, come with me and leave this all behind."

Her eyes fell down and her head dropped a bit. "But..."

"But what? Please, tell me what is it you are afraid of," I fervently ask her. I want to take away everything, all the pain and fear she's felt, but I can't if she won't tell me where it lies. Her head suddenly perks up again and leans closer to mine. Her eyes are shut close, like she's focusing deeply on the answer.

"I'm afraid of falling." Her voice comes out near inaudibly, but the words echo within my brain.

All of a sudden, I move my legs and get up onto my feet, still holding onto Xion. I lift her up by her hands and help her to her feet. The dizziness from the fall and lack of blood flow to her legs causes her to trip and hang a but from my grasp, but I soon have her standing up, still holding onto her. Her eyes stare at mine. I smile at her and gently reach out to stroke her cheek in a comforting way. My wings begin to unfold from around her and they begin spreading out further and towards my sides, till they are full outstretched, clear and glistening white in the pale moonlight.

"I have wings." My feathers shiver, light catching off their smooth sheen. Her eyes widen in wonder at the fantasmal sight of them, almost as if they had been brought out right out of a story book, or a dream.

My chest began to glow with the light from my heart. It spreaded through my veins, disappearing until it reached my hand. Her hands break off as I she stared at my glowing hand reaching out towards her. Her eyes then turned to me, full of confusion. I smiled, hoping to reassure her.

"Shall we fly together?" Her motionlessness only lasted a second. Her arm slowly reached out and her fingers uncurled. They flitted over my wrist before lowering down and grasping my hand. The light instantly grew brighter as it spreaded from me to her heart.

* * *

 _The moonlight glinted off the metal and tiled roofs of Twilight Town. The stars twinkled in the dark, velvet sky. Clouds floated softly as they framed the moon. A gentle night wind blew swiftly, yet quietly across the sleeping town._

 _Carried along by the light flowing breeze flew two winged beings. A boy with tousled, blonde hair and white wings as bright as the moon. His hand was tightly grasped around a raven-haired girl's hand. She held his hand in a hard grip, for he was leading her to his home, and because new angels still had some ways to go before fully developing their wings._

 _On the girl's back two wings sprouted out from beneath her shoulder blades. They were an obsidian black, like her hair, yet at the tips of her feathers they changed to a deep red, representing the pain she had suffered, and then to a snow white, to symbolize the light she had gained now._

 _Her eyes were shut as she enjoyed the feeling of freedom, being in the sky, close to the stars she's longed to be near for so long. The moonlight shone over their faces, illuminating their happy expression and revealing the glowing sheens in their hair and feathers. They opened their eyes to reveal their matching blue orbs as they looked at one another. They shut their eyes once more when the moonlight became overpowering in light._

 _The girl felt the light wrap around and encase it in its ethereal life. She could feel it seeping into her very being, mending her broken body and her cracked heart. She could feel it melting the pain away like an icecube under the sun. For the first timer in years, she could feel at peace with herself._

 _The stars up above glistened like diamonds against the deep black night. Though she could not see them through the moonlight, she could feel the starlight beam down and shine on her. And for a brief second she believed that she could hear them singing, high into the night. Like tiny glass bells, clear, gentle music. She felt they were singing a song, just for her. A song of joy and of welcoming._

 _Her body no longer felt weighed down by invisible chains. Her heart no longer felt burden with the pain of years before. She was heading to her new home, starting with a fresh, clean slate. No longer would she be held bondage. No longer would she be just a slave. No longer would she be a puppet._

 _"I am free," she thought and let the light consume her._

* * *

 **I hope all of you enjoyed it. It took very long, but I cherish all the time I spent into making this possible. Thank you all for taking the time to read. Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Kwanzaa, and just a wonderful holiday season in general. Sincerely, v.t.7**


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